Morphological and functional reorganization of rat medial prefrontal cortex in neuropathic pain
Open accessAbstract
Neuropathic pain is a chronic pain that results from lesion or dysfunction of the nervous system. Depression and cognitive decline are often coupled to chronic pain, suggesting the involvement of cortical areas associated with higher cognitive functions. We investigated layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in acute slices of the contralateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the rat spared nerve injury (SNI) model of neuropathic pain and found morphological and functional differences between the mPFC of SNI and sham-operated animals. Basal, but not apical, dendrites of neurons from SNI rats are longer and have more branches than their counterparts in sham-operated animals; spine density is also selectively increased in basal dendrites of neurons from SNI rats; the morphological changes are accompanied by increased contribution to synaptic currents of the NMDA component. Interestingly, the NMDA/AMPA ratio of the synaptic current elicited in mPFC neurons by afferent fiber stimulation shows linear correlation with the rats' tactile threshold in the injured (but not in the contralateral) paw. Our results not only provide evidence that neuropathic pain leads to rearrangement of the mPFC, which may help defining the cellular basis for cognitive impairments associated with chronic pain, but also show pain-associated morphological changes in the cortex at single neuron level.
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The morphology and function of NAc and vmPFC cells changes with chronification of pain after nerve injury in a way that predicts and causally affects depression-like behavior.
“The morphology and function of NAc and vmPFC cells changes with the chronification of pain after nerve injury [59],[60],[84] in a way that predicts and causally affects depression-like behavior [84]”
From Distinct Brain Systems Mediate the Effects of Nociceptive Input and Self-Regulation on Pain (2015) · cites this paper as [60]
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- Authors
- Metz, A. E., Yau, H.-J., Centeno, M. V., Apkarian, A. V., & Martina, M.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2009-02-17
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2423-2428
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2650172
- OpenAlex
- W2056565769
- Cited by
- 407
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 15.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS 57704, R01NS057704)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Keywords
- neuropathic pain, medial prefrontal cortex, spared nerve injury, pyramidal neurons, dendritic morphology, basal dendrites, dendritic spines, synaptic currents, tactile threshold, cognitive impairment, chronic pain, depression
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Dendrites, Electrophysiology, Neuralgia, Neurons, Pain Threshold, Prefrontal Cortex, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Rats, Pain Management
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